


Stitching The Stars

by MadameBizarre



Category: PKNA - Paperinik New Adventures
Genre: Chapter 1 is sfw but chapter 2 IS NOT, Donald is tired after being a vigilante and then secret agent and now vigilante once more, F/F, F/M, M/M, Mind Manipulation, One is a loving and supportive A.I. boyfriend, PKNE - Paperinik New Era, Post-Mark of Moldrock, Virtual Reality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 20:49:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17270897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadameBizarre/pseuds/MadameBizarre
Summary: It has been years in the making, but even so, life is not a fairytale story after reuniting. It takes time to move past what has happened in those years apart, but at last, they finally recapture what has been considered 'normalcy' between them, not only emotionally, but physically...and then some.





	Stitching The Stars

“It took about ten years, but I’m back.” 

“And people say  _ I  _ take long naps.” 

Donald nudged the green orb beside him with an elbow, but One was not smiling like he was (if it could even  _ pass  _ as a smile, it looked so forced). He knew The Avenger’s tics even with ten years of separation between them. Donald was a creature of habit and had no motivation to change himself personally, thus itt was all still there: laughter to hide his pain, fingers flexing when planning his next move, tongue poking out when lost in thought. There were so many more, but these were the typical ones that reared themselves on a daily basis. Now was no different, and so Donald chuckled awkwardly while the AI frowned.

“After all these years, it feels like nothing has changed.”

There was no happy face this time, and One felt what biologicals called  _ heartbreak _ settle in his code. Everything  _ had  _ changed, not just physical either, but emotionally. Nevermind the tower’s re-creation and new design, or Solomon Hicks running Ducklair enterprises (One would  _ swear _ he was not jealous of that, but for FUCK’S sake  _ HE  _ was the oldest and superior). Donald Duck was no longer the peppy vigilante he  had been all those ago, and that was a  _ big  _ difference. He was tired, and a tad overwhelmed from his sudden return from retirement, and from the looks of the databases around Duckburg, that had been no more than a year or so before taking it upon himself to protect the city in a whole new (secret) way. His partner had suffered a great loss when Everett turned him off, and there was hardly time to rest -- especially since no one could handle his affairs like the all-powerful AI could.

“Oh hero…” One pressed his holographic head closer to the wall of his orb. Like second-nature, Donald pressed his closest brow to it as well and they stared at one another for a long moment. Like this, he could see the dark bag under those blue eyes, the age lines that wrapped around their sockets; One wondered if the biological could catch on to the little ways he had aged as well, albeit his hologram did not change in such obvious ways, but the bond between them was deeper than what was on the outside --far into the banks of code that made One’s entire being.

“I’m so tired, One. It’s all a little too much for me.”

“I know, old cape, but I’ll lift as much of that load off your shoulders. All you need to do is live and keep me informed.”

“Heh, what are you, my wife?” Donald closed his eyes.

“I think partner would be more accurate.”

And the hero’s shoulders shook with silent laughter, because though he was joking, there was truth behind their banter. So many years of crime fighting, being looked after  by the all-seeing AI who had only ever known his master until The Avenger dropped into the secret floor. They had crossed the barrier of friendship in the past, into the odd and surreal realm of something  _ more _ , and not even a decade of separation could tear it apart. It wouldn’t be easy to slip into their typical routine without the pain of loss and emptiness sneaking up to alienate them from one another, but Donald was more than ready to stitch back what had been torn across time and space.

* * *

 

The breakup with Daisy had been smoother than he thought. They had sat down on her sofa for lunch and Donald knew she was aware of his behavior. She knew what was going to happen, because they both were --  even without an intimate relationship --in sync. They had been friends before lovers, compatriots in exploring the woods around Grandma Duck’s house and a deadly team when it came to anything in the Arcade. So when he called her that morning to see one another, he heard it in her voice:  _ I know why, and I feel the same. _ Which only made it all the more painful, because even though he had been the one to initiate the meet up, Donald still loved her. A breakup was a breakup, even when both parties were in agreement over it. Daisy felt similar about that as well, because as they sat in silence a few minutes  after everything was said and done, she set a stony gaze upon him and stood up. 

_ “I’m happy we can move on now, but I need time alone -- get out, please.” _

A lot smoother than the punch and yelling he was expecting and thought she deserved to release.

His life was a complete shitshow with vigilante duties, followed by secret agent missions. There solemn was time for relationships beyond his nephews whose upbringing took importance even over the former two responsibilities. Were it not for the need of keeping his alter-egos secret, Donald fancied he could have made things work -- Daisy was someone who could come to great compromises and the most understanding person you’d ever meet. Yet that was the cost of being dragged into saving the world: no one but the people already inside the loop could know, and those same people were unable to help outside the workplace. And Daisy did not deserve that. She deserved someone who would spoil her rotten with dates. Someone who could support  _ her  _ and all the aspirations she had. Someone out there  _ deserved  _ Daisy’s love and support more than him, who the universe decided to kick in the ass -- like always. All Donald did was give her broken words and at best some verbal support, but even he knew that was not enough nor was it  _ fair. _

Donald as The Avenger had One to help him, and as Double Duck the secret agent he occasionally had Kay K, but Daisy Duck the journalist and fashionista? She had  _ no one _ , save a few friends. She had a boyfriend who did his best, but could not satisfy her in a work environment level, and slowly not even on a personal level. He could not keep holding her back. 

Now, they were both free from false promises and guilty pressure….and it had hurt so much.

No AI companion, no Daisy, no family, hardly a co-worker, all resulting in no one to confide and take comfort in. 

Even when they were able to bring their friendship back together, enjoy each other’s company like they once had as children, he could not find it in himself to seek the comfort he once had as her boyfriend. She was flourishing, with a blog that paid her bills, a new wardrobe that she felt more confident wearing, and was seeing a special lady that was absolutely gorgeous. The breakup and the depression that came after had passed within months, and Daisy shed her insecurities like old skin and gave birth to a new sense of worth. The breakup and the depression that came after had been nothing new for Donald who instead focused on his little family than himself. This was not his first time losing someone, and deep in his heart, he knew it wouldn’t be his last. 

He loved Daisy Duck, the beloved aunt of the triplets, and honorary Duck-Coot family member, and she loved him back. It was for the best that they were no longer together. He had hurt her in many ways, and she would never know the most horrible of the pain and strain he had caused to them both.

Save only One.

* * *

 

“Did you miss me while in space?”

“Every moment of every day, especially since master Ducklair and I were hiding out.”

“What are artificial moons like?”

“Cold, grey,  _ lifeless  _ \-- we kept one another sane with conversations when not busy keeping ourselves hidden and trying to sabotage the queen’s plans.”

“Sounds like that was something new. Didn’t Everett create you in the first place to be his equal for talking to?”

“Yes, but back then he only thought of me as a creation, a child at best. Now, it’s different, I’ve matured so much, become my own being that lives, that master Ducklair recognized it and treats me like a true equal -- like….a son.”

“I’m glad -- the last time we talked about you he had shut you off like you were a machine. Almost socked him straight his stupid face.”

“I am well aware, I all saw the video surveillance and we talked about what happened during that time I was, as you would understand it, in sleep mode. We talked about you a lot.”

“Oh yeah? What did mister big-head say?”

“That you are a nosy Terran that gets on his nerves….but also a kind and true hero that he is proud to be friends with.”

“Ain’t he sweet. Aren’t ya gonna ask me if I missed you?”

…..

“No, hero, because I know you did. Not because I am, of course, amazing, but because you love me, and I love you, and if it hurt me to be away from you for so long, then it hurt you -- harsher too since you were very busy after master Ducklair left Earth.”

“....It’s not easy having to be alone. Family can only do so much, and I could never hurt them with all the alter-ego business. It was bullshit, One, and I’m so tired.”

“Like I said, its okay now. We’re back together, the boys are enjoying their adventures with you uncle, Daisy is doing well with her new girlfriend and their blog, and we are more powerful than we have ever been.”

“You’ll watch over Daisy too, right?”

“Always, she is a good woman, and I could never let someone you love be hurt.”

“You’re a good man, One...for an AI that is -- heh.”

“And you’re a good hero, Donald….for a biological -- hi hi hi!”

* * *

 

There was a time where Everett thought he was going to split his head in half from all the paranoia in his  lonely life on Earth. His adopted parents were feeling betrayed, his daughters had lost ten physical years, there were calls left and right for him to send his prototypes in, and the media had suddenly put a spotlight on him. He needed someone to vent to. Someone who would understand. Someone not  _ Terran _ . Who knew all his secrets and could meet him mentally. And a brain scan with additional coding so he was not merely talking to himself later, One was created.  Soon after Two was created in a fit of anger and hatred for Terran society and the attempts to bring down his software -- to bring down One who kept everything secure-- and not long after the Omega Chamber Guardian came into existence after a bout of paranoia brought his fear over the slim one-percent chance of someone possibly finding and stealing his weaponry for evil higher than it ever was before. Perhaps in some way, these little mental episodes had caused the unforeseen variables that were in each AI’s own personality -- besides, of course,  Everett’s own failures and tampering from Korinna in one case.

But One….One was the biggest deviant of all of them. Most likely not the first to have his protocols go rogue (Two had sicken of being in the dark far before One had changed), but for sure the most volatile than the others. Never in Everett Ducklair’s wildest dream had he expected the green AI to become so sentient that he begun to resemble a true offspring! From obedient companion who never questioned  _ why  _ he had to do anything, into a rebellious  _ young adult _ who, quite literally, SMASHED the ‘rules’ (because at this point ‘protocol’ was too stiff for the situation) to pieces. One had matured and it was because of his unruly friend -- The Duck Avenger. It was the age-old story of good kid getting in with the wrong crowd, but with a twist. Good kid learning how to  _ live  _ from his zany friends.

He may have missed out on his daughters’ own phases of growing, but Everett had not missed One’s. Whether it was fortunate that the Coronian had missed out on the more ‘mature’ part of maturing or not, he was not going to complain….ok, perhaps a little, because it appeared that The Duck Avenger was the type of man Everett’s kin found  _ enticing. _ Truly it was fortunate that Juniper was mentally a child and the affection was nothing but a childhood crush (harmless), and the rest (Korinna, Two, and Solomon) were too wrapped up in their little worlds to let anything even resembling  _ tender _ grow on them. That was all besides the point though: One was the only one who allowed his emotions to evolve, let his love for the vigilante become something more, and was now somehow in a relationship with him. Truly odd and confusing on a parental and scientific level, but not shocking nor distasteful. 

Let them be, it was not hurting anyone, and obviously it was beneficial to the AI and his growth.

Nevermind the dismal end their relationship would take. Everett was content, One was happy, the hero was their most trusted ally and happy as well to have the AI back, and whatever the two did while the alien was off fixing his affairs and out of the tower,  _ it was none of his business. _ One was an advanced AI, and, dare he say it, a big boy now.

He knew to keep everything _ sterile. _

* * *

 

Two mechanical claws reached out to remove the cape from The Avenger’s aching shoulders, and a third urged him to lay down. The chair was sturdy, with cushions that melded to Donald’s form as he sunk into it with a  grateful sigh. In the past -- after One had gone away -- he would have did his best to drive home, tug off his suit, and merely pass out with the pain, only to wake up sore all over; this time around One was there, taking control of the PKar as Donald took the time to catch his breath, allowed him to slip out of the costume as he dragged himself to the elevator (picking up the discarded clothes as the hero went), and instantly went to help him become comfy. 

“I don’t have to be home tonight, Daisy has the boys until tomorrow night.” He mumbled.

“I am aware, I  _ was  _ the one to grab those tickets to the baseball game.” 

Donald pulled up his arms and arched his back upward, groaning as his tired muscles began to pleasantly burn. When that was over with, he slumped back into his seat, doing his best to relax enough to fall asleep, but the aching was not done with him apparently. It echoed up and down his arms and legs,  every little tendon of his body stretched and abused beyond comfort. Oh how his body despised him for all he did and allowed to be done to it. Some nights it drove to even sob, and tonight was verging into that territory.

“I’m feeling it tonight, One.” He searched for the orb that was his A.I. partner. At last it popped up right beside him, no bigger than his head for a more personal exchange of words. “Maybe a warm bath will do me good.”

“Perhaps...but I have something else in mind.”

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 2 is nearly complete, but it'll be quite some time. but this is where anything below 18 MUST STOP. And if you wish to support me, check out my writing blog ;)
> 
> Wanted to get this out before continuing my main two fics. Please check out my works under the PKNA tag, I have some others there for reading.


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